Machine for attaching bails to containers



Feb. 20, 1934. G s HOOVER 1,947,472

MACHINE FCR ATTACHING BAILS TO CONTAINERS Feb- 20, 1934 G. s. HOOVERMACHINE FOR ATTACHING BAILS T0 CONTAINERS Filed March 21, 1932 5Sheets-Sheet 2 5. 5- Haan/e1" @nomic/1p Feb. 20, 1934. Q s, HQQVER1,947,472

f MACHINE FOR ATTACHING BAILS TO CONTAINERS Filed march 21,'1932 5sheets-sheet s fw y/@ M Feb. 20, 1934. G. s. HOOVER MACHINE FORATTACHING BAILS TO CONTAINERS liled March' 21. 1932 5 SheebS-Sheel'l 4lmwwto'r 5. 5 HD aver Feb. 20, 1934. G. s. HOOVER MACHINE POR ATTACHINGBAILS TO CONTAINERS Filed March 21, 1932 5 Shee'cs--Shee'tl 5 mwwo@ 5'..5'. Haat/E1" @htm/wmp Patented F eb. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE MACHINE FOR ATTACHING BAILS T CONTAINERS This invention relatesto means for attaching bails or handles to containers such as cans orbuckets in which paints and similar commodities are placed upon themarket. One object of the invention is to provide means whereby the canswith bail ears thereon will be fed successively to a point where theymeet the hails, likewise fed successively thereto, and the bail endsthen automatically engaged with and secured in the ears. Another objectof the invention is to provide means whereby the apparatus may beadapted to containers of different sizes, and another object is toprovide novel means for automatically engaging the bail ends with theears and properly securing them thereto. Other objects of the inventionwill appear incidentally in the course of the following description, andthe invention resides in certain novel features which will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatusembodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same showing the delivery end of theapparatus,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section 0n the line 6 6 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 7--7 of Fig. 1

Fig. 8 is a detail section on the line 88 of Fig. '7,

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail elevation of one of the cam wheels forengaging the bail ears on the containers and maintaining them inposition to receive the ends of a bail,

Fig. l0 is an enlarged elevation with a part in section of one of theguides whereby the bail is directed to the point of meeting with acontainer,v

Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan View of the bailfeeding device,

Fig. l2 is a perspective view of the same,

Fig. 13 is a` detail sectional elevation of the cam device for forcingthe bail end into engagement with the bail ear,

Fig. 14 is a detail plan view or the receiving end of the track alongwhich the containers are fed,

Fig. l5 is a detail perspective view of a bail.

In carrying out the invention, there is provided a supporting framewhich may be of any convenient or approved, form and is shownasincluding standards or legs 1 supporting a table 2 and also includinga supplemental table or platform 3 upon which is mounted a motor 4 whichis shown conventionally. Erected upon the table 2 are supplementalstandards 5 which, at their upper ends, support a frame 6. At one end ofthe table 2 is provided a chute 7 through which the containers or canbodies are delivered to the mechanism of the present invention. Mountedin suitable bearings at the opposite ends of the table 2 are shaftscarrying sprocket wheels or drums 8 about which is trained an endlesschain beltV conveyer 9 having lugs or cleats 10 disposed transverselythereon at regular intervals. The shaft carrying the wheels or drums atone end of the frame is equipped with a worm pinion 11 meshing with aworm 12 on the shaft of the motor 4, as clearly shown in Fig. l, wherebya continuous travel will be imparted to the conveyer in an obviousmanner. Adjacent the sides of the conveyer, rails 13 are provided, onthe upper side of the table, and these rails provide supports forinstrumentalitles which control the travel of the can bodies, as willpresently more fully appear. These rails are provided on theirundersides with dovetail ribs 14 slidably seated in correspondingVtransverse grooves l5 in the top of the tableA whereby they may beshifted transversely of the table while being prevented from havinglongiv tudinal movement thereon. Disposed about midway the ends of thetable, a shaft 16 is journaled transversely thereon and equipped at oneendi with a hand wheel 17 whereby it may be readily rotated. Theopposite ends of the shaft 16 arev reversely threaded or provided withreversed spiral ribs, as indicated at 18, and these threaded portionsengage correspondingly threaded bores in the respective rails 13 wherebyas the shaft is rotated in one `0r the opposite direction the rails willbe caused to approach or recede. This arrangement permits the rails tobe adjusted to accommodate 4wider or narrower containers. IdlerrolleraglS are mounted in suitable bearings adjacent the ends of therails to support the upper run of the conveyor and the axles 20 of theseidlers are journaled in bearings 2l which have beveled undersidesresting upon inwardly beveled upper surfaces 22 of the rails so that asthe rails are shifted transversely the bearings will be permitted todescend or will be elevated, thereby raising or lowering the idlers andadjusting the upper run or the conveyer to the diameter of thecontainer. The bearings 2l are held in place by bolts 23 carried by thebearings and depending therefrom through transverse slots 24 in the endportions of the rails, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, springs 25 being ttedabout the bolts between the underside of the table and the nuts 26 onthe lower ends of the bolts whereby they will be firmly held in placeand will be permitted to accommodate the adjustment of the bearings.

A can body is shown at 27 and it will be noted that it is formed withannular flanges or beads 28 at its ends and at diametrically oppositepoints adjacent its open end has bail ears 29 secured thereon, saidears, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 8, being hollow andhaving central openings in their outer walls to receive the ends of thehandles or bails. One of the bails 30 is shown in Fig. 15 and it will benoted that it is formed of stout wire and has its extremities 31 lyingat right angles to the plane of the bail. Adjacent the extremities 31,loops 32 are formed which extend outwardly from the bail and lie in theplane of the same.

The cans are delivered to the chute '7 by the can-forming machinery andslide down the chute to the lower end of the same to be delivered to theconveyer 9 with their axes extending longitudinally of the conveyer.Should the cans be fedrinto the chute faster than they are carried pastthe saine by the conveyer, the anges of adjacent cans are liable tointerengage so that the delivery of the cans to the conveyer will beclogged and considerable damage might result. To avoid this condition, Ipro-vide means whereby an upper can is arrested and supported above alower can to permit the lower can to move from the chute to theconveyer, said means being released by the travel of the lower can sothat the upper can will, in its turn, be delivered upon the conveyer.Longitudinal slots 33 are formed in `the side walls of the chute andreceive jaws 34 formed at the upper ends of levers 35 fulcrumed upon thesides of the chute, as shown at 36, and extending below the fulcrums,links 37 being pivoted to the lower ends of the levers and extendingoutwardly therefrom. To the outer ends of the links 37 are pivoted therear ends of angle levers 38 which are fulcrumed midway their ends uponthe rails 13 and have their forward ends pivoted to forwardly extendinglinks 39, as shown most clearly in Fig, 3. The links 39 are pivoted attheir forward ends to the outer ends of cranks 40 which extend from rockshafts 41, disposed vertically upon the rails 13, and carryingescapement or feedlevers 42. These levers 42 extend longitudinally inboth directions from the respective rock shafts 41 and are arranged tooperate in longitudinal slots 43 formed in the sides of an upper frame44 secured upon the respective rails 13. The ends of the levers 42 arearcuate, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, and normally the rear ends ofthe levers are disposed nearer each other so that a can or containerbody traveling withV the conveyer 9 will be caused to engage said endsand move them apart so that the rock shafts 41 will be rocked to swingthe cranks 40 forwardly. 'Ihis movement of the cranks 40 will cause thelevers 35 to rock inwardly at their upper ends and carry the jaws 34inwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 where they willreceive and support a can body. As the can upon the conveyer continuesits travels, it will engage the forward ends of the levers 42 which havebeen rocked toward each other by the spreading of the rear ends of thelevers and the said forward ends will be then rocked apart so that thejaws 34 will be separated and permit the can supported thereby to dropto the conveyer. These several movements are properly timed so thatclogging of the containers in the bottom of the chute will be prevented.It will be understood, of course, that at the start of operations thejaws 34 are separated so that the first container delivered to the chutemay pass directly to the conveyer.

Disposed at one side of the conveyer 9 is a horizontally extendingendless chain or belt 45 which is trained around sprockets 46 carried byvertically disposed shafts mounted on the adjacent rail 13. The chain orbelt 45 is provided on its side, at intervals, with lugs or projections47 which are adapted to be engaged by a container body upon the conveyer9 so that travel will be imparted to the chain or belt coincident withthe travel of the container body past the same. Beneath one of thesprockets 46, and secured thereto or to the shaft carrying the sprocket,is a gear wheel 48 which meshes with a gear wheel 49 suitably mountedupon the rail 13 and having the lower end of a flexible shaft 5()secured axially thereto. The flexible shaft 50 extends upwardly and isattached to the axle or shaft 51` carrying a drive wheel 52 about whichis trained an endless conveyer 53 which is preferably a chain belt andis provided in its outer surface at regular intervals with notches 54adapted to receive the handles of bails which are to be applied to thecontainers. The axle or shaft 51 is mounted in bearings upon the upperframe 6, and, at the opposite end of said frame, a similar gear or drum55 is mounted to support the conveyer belt 53, as shown in Fig. l. Aguide frame 56 is secured upon the supporting frame 6 and extends alongthe upper run of the conveyer 53 and around the delivery end of the sameand is disposed in spaced relation to the conveyer so that the distancebetween the surface of the conveyer and the inner surface of the guideframe will be just sufficient to accommodate the arch of one bail.Deleterious crowding of the bails is thus prevented. The guide frame isprovided with an inlet, indicated at 57, at a suitable point in itsupper portion through which the bails are delivered to the conveyer andit may be stated at this point that while, in the present drawings, I donot show any bail-delivering means I contemplate the provision ofautomatic means for delivering the bails successively and such meanswill form the subject matter of another application for patent.

At the opposite side of the conveyer 9 from the chain belt 45 isarranged a second endless chain belt 58, which is also provided upon itsouter side, at regular intervals, with lugs or projections 59 to beengaged by the container bodies traveling upon the conveyer 9, and uponreference to Fig. 3 it will be noted that the belts or chains 45 and 58are so disposed that a lug upon the belt 45 will be engaged by acontainer body slightly in advance of the engagement of a lug 59 by thebody. The chain or belt 58 is carried by horizontally disposed gears ordrums 60 mounted upon the adjacent rail 13 and one of said gears 60 hasthe lower end of a flexible shaft lfse'- cured axially thereto, saidshaft 61 extending upwardly and having its upper end attached to theaxle of a crank disk 62 suitably mounted upon the shelf 63' which issupported by the rail 13 and the upper frame 5. The crank disk 52carries a wrist pin 63 which plays in a longitudinal slot 64 in a leveror presser arm 65 which is fulcrumed at one end upon the frame 5, asshown in Fig. 1, and extends upwardly and forwardly from its fulcrum.The upper forward end of the lever is pivoted to lugs or ears 66 at thecenter of a cross bar or rod 67 which is disposed adjacent the upperends of guides 68 rising from the respective rails 13 and to and betweenwhich the bails are delivered, it being noted, upon reference to Fig. l,that the delivery end of the guide frame 56 is disposed over the upperends of the guides 68. As shown in Fig. 12, lugs or ears 69 are providedupon one side of the bar 67 and in these lugs rods 70 are adjustablysecured by set screws 7l, as will be understood, said rods 70 carryingat their upper ends an arcuate plate or hood 72 which is adapted toproject over and bear upon the arch of a bail delivered to and betweenthe guides 68. Sockets are formed in the ends of the bar 67, as shown inFig. 7, and these sockets receive studs or short shafts 73 which extendto and engage in vertical guide grooves 74 in the inner opposed faces ofthe guides 68, short cranks 75 being formed on the ends of said studs orshafts to run in the groove 74 and thereby hold the bar 67 to arectilinear path during the vervtical movement of the lever 65 whilepermitting the bar to rock and accommodate the relative angular movementof the lever. The rocking movement of the bar 67 will cause the presserplate 72 to ride across the arched central portion lof the bail and feedthe same downwardly within guide grooves 76 formed on the inner opposedfaces of the guides 68. Hung loosely upon the shafts or studs 73 arepresser arms 77 which are provided at their lower ends with fingers 78.adapted to bear upon the extermities 3l of the bail and exert adownward pressure thereon simultaneously with the pressure exerted bythe plate or hood 72 so that the bail will be properly guided to thecontainer to which i-t is to be applied. The arms 77 are also providedwith lattively wide in its upper end portion and pro nouncedlycontracted in its lower portion and is located between the verticalstraight guide grooves 74 and the guide groove 76 which re- `ceives anend of the bail. The bar 67 and the studs 73, consequently, move in aplane at one side of the plane in which the lugs 79 play and thereforethe arms 77 tend constantly to swing toward the grooves 74 and away fromthe groove 76 so that the finger 78 will be out of the kpaths of theends of the bails. As the bar 67, however, moves downwardly, the lugs 79will ride upon the inclined portions 81 of the walls of the grooves andwill be thereby deflected toward the groove 76 so that the fingers 78will be disposed above the ends of the bails and arranged to bear uponthe same. The bails will thus be positively fed to the lower ends of theguide members 68 and properly placed to engage the bail ears. As shownat 82, in Fig. 7, the lower portions of the guide members 68 have theirinner surfaces beveled or disposed obliquely to accommodate the rockingmovement of the bail ends as they are pushed into the bail ears and arelocked therein.

In the lower end of each guide member 68 is obliquely disposed slot 8Sin which is pivotally suspended a trigger 84 which is approximatelytriangular in form and normally has one side edge projecting into thepath of the bail riding downwardly in the guide groove 76 while itsopposite side edge projects from the guide member, as shown in Figs. 7,8 and 13. The trigger will, of course, yield to the downward movement ofthe bail, as will be understood upon reference to the dotted lines inFig. 13, and, as the bail is properly positioned with respect to thecontainer body, the trigger is forced inwardly and thereby drives'thebail end into the bail ear. To drive the trigger inwardly, thereisprovided adjacent each guide member 68 a cam disk 85 which is securedupon a shaft 86 journaled transversely in the adjacent rail i3, the camdisk being provided on its face presented to the trigger with camprojections 87 adapted to successively act upon the trigger, thel camprojections being spaced equi-distantly around the cam disk so that theywill operate the trigger at the proper intervals. The shafts 86 extendbeyond the inner sides of the respective rails 13 and on their innerends are secured wheels or disks 88 which have the form shown in Fig. 9.Each disk or wheel 88 is provided with a plurality of slots or notches89 in its periphery which are flared outwardly and extend at angles tothe radii of the disk or wheel, which notches receive the ends of thesuccessive bails and accommodate the relative angular movement thereof.On the inner faces of these disks or wheels 88 are formedrecesses 90having one wall disposed parallel with the adjacent wall of the adjacentnotch 89 while the other wall of the recess extends parallel with adiameter of the disk or wheel and when the wheel is at rest extendshorizontally so that it forms a guide or track for a bail ear 29 on theapproaching container body. The disks or wheels are provided in theirouter faces with recesses or seats 91 adapted to be engaged by springdetents 92 whereby the disks will be arrested at an' end of a period ofoperation and will be given a step by step movement at regular intervalsand of equal duration.

It may sometimes happen that the container bodies will be delivered ontothe conveyer 9 with the 'bail ears disposed out of horizontalalinement,l as indicated in Fig. 4. To meet this condition, andpartially turn the bodies so that the bail ears will be disposed on ahorizontal diameter of the bodies, I provide the obliquely disposedsurfaces 93 at the rear ends of the frame 44, these.

surfaces converging toward the medial longitudinal line of the sides ofthe said frames, as shown in Fig. l. As the body is carried forwardly bythe conveyer 9, the bail ears will engage and ride upon these inclinedsurfaces so that the body will be rotated about its own axis and, consequently, will be brought into proper position for application of thebails. TheV bail ears travel along slots 94 in the sides of the frame 44so that the body will be held in the proper position after it has oncebeenturned. The obliquely disposed guide surfaces 93 at the upper partof the frames 44 are provided by a spring plate 95 which has its endssecured to the ends of the sides of the framesv i4 and extend rearwardlytherefrom to bridge the space between them so that, as the frames areseparated or caused to approach to accommodate bodies of differentdiameters, the adjustment will be accommodated without removing theguiding surface.

Containers of the type upon which my invention is intended moreparticularly to operate are made in'two standard sizes which vary indiameter only so that while I have provided means for adjusting themachine to different size containers,

it should be understood that this adjustment is not of a wide range.When the supportingand guiding rails and frames are set closer togetherto accomodate containers of lesser diameter, the upper run of theconveyer 9 should be shifted upwardly correspondingly to accommodate thebodies and support them with the bail ears in the proper positions. Whenthe rails 13 are shifted outwardly to accommodate bodies of greaterdiameters, the bearings 21 will gravitate toward the lower ends of thebeveled surfaces 22 and, consequently, will lower the idlers 19 while,in setting the rails and frames closer together, the inclined surfaces22 will be moved inwardly under the bearings and the idlers 19,consequently, set in a higher position.

It is thought the operation will be readily understood from theforegoing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings. The bails are received by the conveyer 53 and carried aroundto the delivery end of the guide frame 56 from which they are droppedsingly and successively to and between the upright guide members 68 andwill enter the grooves 76 therein. The conveyer 9 travels constantlywhile the machine is in operation and the can bodies are, of

course, received successively by said conveyer and 'carried by it towardthe front delivery end of the machine. The endless belts 45 and 58 areactuated by the passing body and, of course, will operate only while abody is passing and in engagement `therewith so that the feeding of thebails and the -delivering of the same to the lower ends of the guidemembers 68 will be intermittent and in consonance with the travel of thebody, the result being that the bails will be delivered to the trig--gers 84 only as and when can bodies are placed "in position to receivethem. As the body is carried toward the delivery end of the machine, thebail ears thereon will ride onto the straight walls of the recesses 90and pass to the inner corners thereof, arriving at said inner cornerssimultaneously with the delivery of a bail end at the inner end of thenotch 89 through the action of the trigger 84. The travelof the bodycontinues and, by the engagement of the bail ear with the inner cornersof the recesses 90, the wheels or disks 88 will be rotated through 99 sothat the bails will be drawn from the guide members 68 and will berocked so that the bail ends will be locked in engagement with the bailears.

Sometimes, in cutting the formed bail from the length of wire stock, asharp 1in is left on the end of the bail ear. This n is apt to score theouter face of the rotatable member 88 or ever catch on the edge of saidmember and cause bending of the bail ends which will destroy theusefulness of the bail. To accommodate the fins and avoid darnage to thebails and the rotatable members, grooves 96 are provided in the outerfaces of said members, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 9.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:-

l. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a chute for containerbodies, a conveyer traveling past the chute to receive bodies therefrom,means actuated by engagement with the container bodies traveling on theconveyer for applying bails to the bodies, and means at the delivery endof the chute for separating the bodies delivered to the conveyer.

2. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a chute receiving containerbodies, a conveyer moving past the chute to receive the bodiestherefrom, body-supporting jaws mounted on the chute and operable toretard the movement of the bodies therethrough, and means disposed inthe path of the container bodies traveling on the conveyer 3. Inapparatus for the purpose set forth, al

chute receiving container bodies, a conveyer moving past the chute andreceiving the container bodies therefrom, rocking arms disposed adjacentthe sides of the chute to be engaged by the bodies thereon, jaws mountedon the chute and engageable under bodies therein to separate the bodiesin the chute, and connections between said jaws and the arms adjacentthe conveyer whereby the jaws will be released from a body and set toengage a succeeding body.

4. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a chute receiving containerbodies, a conveyer moving past the chute and receiving bodies therefrom,frames at the sides of the conveyer having longitudinal slots to receivethe bail ears on the bodies and thereby guide the bodies, and convergingguide surfaces at the ends of said frames to engage bail ears on thebodies and turn the bodies to cause the ears to enter said longitudinalslots.

5. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies, laterally movable frames disposed at the sides of the conveyer,idlers mounted on said frames for supporting the upper run of theconveyer, means for adjusting the frames toward or from the sides of theconveyer to accommodate bodies of different diameters, and means wherebyas the frames are moved apart or together the idlers will be lowered orraised.

6. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies which are provided with bail ears, rotatable elements adjacentone end of the conveyer constructed to receive and be engaged by thebail ears whereby continued travel of the bodies will effect rotation ofsaid members, bail guides leading to said members, means for deliveringbails to said guides, and means whereby the bail-delivering means willbe controlled by` the travel of the container bodies. Y v

'1. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies, a conveyer for bail handles, an endless belt disposed adjacentone side of the rst mentioned conveyer and provided with lateral lugs onits outer side to be engaged side of the conveyer provided with lugs onitsy outer side tol be engaged by the container bodies on the conveyer,a presser mechanism for feeding the bail handles through the guidemembers, and operative connections between said belt and the pressermechanism.

r9. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies, guide members rising at the sides of the container, means fordelivering bail handles to and between said guide members, rotatableelements at the sides of the conveyer and at the lower ends of saidguide members having peripheral notches to receive the ends of the bailsand recesses on their opposed faces to receive the bail ears on thecontainer bodies whereby the travel of the container bodies will effectengagement between the bail ears and the walls of said recesses torotate said members and discharge the bail ears, and means controlled bythe travel of the container bodies for positively feeding the bailhandles through the guide members and causing the ends thereof to enterand be locked in the bail ears on the bodies.

10. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies with bail ears thereon, rotatable members at the sides of theconveyer constructed to receive and be engaged by said bail ears,vertically extending guide members at the sides of said rotatableelements, means for delivering bail handles to said guide members, meansfor positively feeding the bail handles along said guide members to thebail ears engaging the rotatable elements, triggers at the lower ends ofsaid guide members to bear against the ends of the bail handles, and cammembers rotatable with the rotatable elements under travel of thecontainer bodies to actuate said triggers and force the ends of the bailhandles into locking engagement with the bail ears.

1l. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, vertically extending guidemembers provided on their inner opposed faces with series of verticallyextending guide grooves, means for delivering bail handles to theforemost of said guide grooves, a rod slidably engaged in the rearmostof said grooves, arms suspended loosely on said rod, iingers at thelower ends of said arms adapted to engage over the ends of the bailhandles, and lugs adjacent said fingers traveling in the intermediategrooves of the guide members, said intermediate grooves and the foremostgrooves of said members having orset portions whereby the ends of thebail handles may be rocked and the fingers will be retracted from thepaths of the bail handles.

12. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies, guides at the sides of the conveyer, means for delivering bailhandles to said guides, means at the lower ends of the guides forrocking the ends of the bail handles into locking engagement with bailears on the container bodies, and a presser mechanism operating betweensaid guides and including a plate for engaging the upper arched portionsof the bails and fingers for engaging the ends of the bails.

13. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, a conveyer for containerbodies, guides at the sides of the conveyer, means at the lower ends ofthe guides for rocking the ends of bail handles into locking engagementwith the bail ears on the bodies, a lever fulcrumed adjacent the guides,a bar carried by the upper end of said lever, means controlled by thetravel of container bodies for rocking said lever, a presser platecarried by said bar to engage the upper portion of a bail handle betweenthe guides, and arms suspended from said bar and provided at their lowerends with fingers to engage the lower ends of the bail handles wherebyto positively feed the bail handles to the means for interlocking themwith the bail ears.

14. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising an endless conveyerfor container bodies, means for feeding bails to said bodies, endlessbelts disposed on opposite sides of the conveyer and operativelyconnected with the bail feeding means, and projections on the beltsextending in the path of and actuated by engagement with the containerbodies on the conveyer for rotating the belts.

15. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising an endless conveyerfor container bodies having bail receiving ears, a bail guide, meansactuated by engagement with the container bodies traveling on saidconveyer for feeding bails to said bail guide, and means operativelyconnected with the first mentioned means for successively applying theends of the bails from the guide to the receiving ears of said containerbodies.

16. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a conveyer forcontainer bodies, a. bail guide, endless members mounted for rotation onopposite sides of the conveyer and actuated by engagement with thecontainer bodies traveling on the conveyer, means operatively connectedwith one of said endless members for feeding bails to the guide, andmeans operatively connected with the other endless member for applyingthe bails from the guide to said container bodies.

1'7. Apparatus for the purpose set forth oomprising a conveyer forcontainer bodies having bail receiving ears, a frame disposed above theconveyer and provided with longitudinal guide channels adapted toreceive the bail ears, a chute for the bodies, means operating in thechute for delivering the bodies one at a time to the conveyer, meansmounted on the frame at said chute for directing the bail ears of thebodies into the guide channels, and means actuated by engagement withthe container bodies traveling on the conveyer for feeding bails to thecontainer bodies and engaging the bails therewith.

18. Apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a conveyer forcontainer bodies having bail receiving ears, and means actuated byengagement with the container. bodies traveling on said conveyer forfeeding bails to the container bodies and engaging the ends of the bailswith the ears thereof.

GEORGE S. HOOVER. [1.. 8.]l

